Muslim leaders and liberal opinion in India are suspecting Hindu extremist hand behind the recent bombings of a mosque/qabristan in Malegaon in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. A corpse with a fake beard was discovered by Muslims while lifting dead bodies killed in the blasts. The police in Malegaon immediately took over that particular body and claimed to have sent it to Nasik the same day. Next day, 10 September, it denied that any such body was ever found. The news of the discovery was carried by Delhi's Urdu daily Hindustan Express on 9 September. The same paper the following day carried the Malegaon police's denial of the same. Urdu daily
Inquilab of Mumbai carried the following report on 11 September. Here is an English translation of the report:
"Malegaon 10 Sept (Inquilab correspondent): The dead body of a man who was wearing a fake beard and had died in the bomb blasts of Malegaon has mysteriously disappeared. His body was badly mutilated and the lower part was completely missing. Aqeel Ahmed, a 37 year old tailor from Islampura area of Malegaon, says that he had himself moved the dead body of this man into the ambulance van when his [fake] beard came off. Inquilab’s correspondent visited the mortuary along with Aqeel Ahmed. When he asked Aqeel Ahmed to identify the dead body, he said that the body in question was not there. The medical officer of Malegaon Municipal Corporation Dr Vagh said that post-mortem had been carried on 30 corpses in Wadia Hospital and one body was autopsied in Dholia Hospital but none of them was without legs. It should be noted that Aqeel said to have himself moved into the ambulance van a dead body that did not have the lower part. According to Aqeel, at that time he did not pay much attention to this but realised the significance only later. This revelation links these blasts to the explosions in the house of a RSS member in Malegaon from where fake beards were discovered. Police say that they do not have any such information. However, if an eyewitness comes forward, investigation will be launched into the fake beard."
[Inquilab, Mumbai, 11 September 2006]
(English translation courtesy: Council of Indian Muslims (UK))